Improvement in car-brakes for railroads



VUNITED, S `TA1`ES.

PATInvT lCarien.y

WILLIAM s. MARTIN, or WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS.

uvuiaovEMElaT IN CAR-BRAKES Fon aAlLa'oADs.'

Specification forming part o t Letters To all 'whom it may concern Be'it known that 1, WILLIAM S. 'llan'rin"` of Waukegan, in the county ofLake and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful vice isoperated.

The nature of my invention consists iu anovel arrangement,` whereby themomentum ofthe cars or train operates as the power to wind. upand applythe brakes to the train; and, also, in a novel device whereby theaforesaid arrangement will 'cease to operate upon the brakes when themaximum pressure desired is obtained.

To'enable others to understand how to construct and use my invention, Iwill now procoed to describe the same with particularity` Ain theannexed 'drawings represents a wrought-iron shaft extending across thecar4 l between the two wheels of one truck, a-s shown,

o'r near any pair of wheels of the' car, and snpported. in suitablebearings in the hangers or'pe-ndcnt swinging supports, (markedv F F,)which swinging supports are so arranged and attached-to the framework ofthe car or truck -as to enable the said shaft A, supported thereby, tomove forward or backward, as .may be ,-desired.

B B represent two frctionwheels, which rex-'olve loosely upon the shaftA, and areso 4arranged thereon that when the said shaft ispressedforward, las hereinafter tobe described,

the circumference of the said friction wheels is `pressed agains't'thecircumference of. the

car-wheels, which thus cause the said frictionwheels B B to revolve, ifthe cars are in motion.

To impart motion to the shaft A, I employ the following device, namely:the frictionfixed retain the springs S S in place.

Patent no. 41.013, einen .Docenti-r 2e,v was menate-a September 20,1863. i

, clutches() C', the springs S S', and the adjustable slides or bands DD. The friction-clutches 0 Oare fixed upon the 'shaftA-so. that the saidclutches revolve with the shaft, and not upon it, as do thefriction-wheels B B. rlhe adjustable slidingrings D D are adjusted atanyrequired position upon the shaft A, andtixed in such desired positionby means4 of setscrcws,

or any other suitable device, and being thus The said spiral springs SS', being thus confined between vthe unyieldingbands D D and thefrictionclutches O- C', force said. clutches against the saidfriction-wheels B B,so that the revolution of the said friction-wheelsiinparts a revolving or rotating motion to the shaft A Eso loiig as` theresistance to the revolution'of the shaft is less than the pressure of'the springs- S S" upu 'the clutches u u.

'lhrough'the said shaft A there is ahole, f through which hole the chainb passes, which is attached at each end to the rods c c', which extendto and -arc conuectcdwith the brake levers c e.

The object `in having the chain b pass through the shaft A, as shown,instead of'being fastened to it,-is t0 causejthe chain to so adjustitselfin and upon said shaft that the pressure uponiali the wheels ofthc car will be To operate my. device herein described, I employ a leverofv peculiar construction, (marked H in the drawings, and shownsepal'ratelyin Fig. 3.) -Thislevervis-supported upon afulcrum at h,andin its configuration is adapted to the shaft A, as shown. To'theupper end .of the said lever thelink-rods d d are attached,

which link-rods extend throughout the entire length of the train, beingconnected atkeach end ofthe cars ,byhooks or links, as'shown in thedrawings, or by any other suitable device, each car heilig provided withthe aforesaid device, and the rods d d being attached to the lipper endof eae'h lever.. By the peculiar arrange l ment and construction of thesaid lever H, ifthe rodd is drawn, bringing theupperen'd of the saidlever towardthe left, the lowerend thereof is thrown forward toward theright, thereby pressing the shaftA forward, so as' to bring .thefrietion-wheels G C' in contact with the car' wheels, as desired, andit' the rod d' is drawn.

bringing the upper en d of said lever toward the right, the lever isalsoprcssed against, the shaftA, throwing it forward, as before. At thepoints where the lever H is brought into .contact with lthe shaft A tlieanti -friction rollers a a' are inserted in such lever, so that thepressure'ot` the lever upoutheshaft A mayv notcounteractro-r resistt-lielrevolntion of the I shaft, as caused by the friction-wheels B 'B',

as aforesaid. The devices at eachend of said shaft A being similar, theinvention may be used with only one at one end of the shaft, or

.with both,` as 'herein shown and delineated.

The above brakex is operated by means of a vsimilar device uponl theengine or tender,

whereby lthe chains attached to the rods d d' are wound up on a shaftarranged in the same manner as ,the shaftA, and provided with thefriction-wheels,clutches, springs, and adjust. ableslides hereinbeforedescribed. By moving the slides l) 1)' toward or from the clutches C C'the maximum of pressure capable of be 4Aingmade by the brakes ,isincreased or decreased, respectively, and bythe peculiar consti uctionof the lever Il the brakes are worked .equally well, whether the car ismoving backward or forward, by drawing upon the rodsl d ord'.

The operation of my invention is as follows:

\ W'hen the -trainis in motion, and it is desired f to brake up thet1ainthe engineer applies the power? for that purpose, and the rod d ord' isdrawn, thereby bringing the .lever H aga-inst the shaft A, andforcing the frictioufwheels B y B' againstthe carwheels, thereby causingthe] shaft A'toi'evolve,winding up the chain b there on, and bringingthc brakes g g g' g' against the car\\'lxeels. When the maximum pressureof the said brakes, to which the springs 'S S' were adjusted, isreached,the friction-wheels revolve 4.upon the shaft in spite ot' the pressuleof the said springs, and thus the brakes maybe kept ai p at such maximumpressure withoutdanger of breaking the same, or the devices whereby theyare operated; and when it is'desired to release the brakes from theirpressure upon. the carwheels,'this is etlecifed by releasing the strainupon the rods attached to the upper end o." the lever il, when thewheels B B' are de-4 lsz l y A. 41.013

tached from the canwheels, and' the back action or strain will at oncerevolve back the shaft A and unwind the chain b, restoring the brakes totheir minimum of pressure. By having the friction-wheels B B". made'fastupon the shaft A the frictionclutches, springs, and

.adjustable slides could be dispensed with;

but some device for causing the shaft A to cease its revolution when thedesired maximum of pressure lis obtained would be necessary to obviatethe danger fof breaking the parts, or

else the brakes .would have to be released envtirely from pressure .uponthe wheels, and

could not be keptup at they maximum pressure, as they can by theemploymentiof the aforesaid arrangement of thefriction-clutches,springs, and slides, with friction-wheels B' B' loose upon the shaft A.The frictionclutcl|es G C' are provided with beveled or coniformrecesses, into which a similar projection upon the friction-wheels -B.'B' enters,' the object of this. arrangement being to. obtain a,greater amount of fr'ictiona-l bcaring'surface than would be presentedby plain surfaces.

What l claim as my invention, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

v 1. r1 he combination ofthe shaft A, the fric- 4tion-wheels B B', theclutches C C', springs S wheels of the cars,vwhen said iiiction-wheelslare used in combination with shaft A, the

clutches C C', the springs S S',.the slides 1) D', the. lever 1I, andthe chain b, operating as and for the purposes speciliedand shown.

. AW. S. MARTIN. Witnesses:

W. E. Manus, .I'onN 1I. BLooMFiELn.

